A humble "thank you" for a great honor...

Receiving the award with STA President, Steve Cox.

Last night I was humbled and honored to be among this year's recipients of the Society of Tennessee Archivists' John H. Thweatt Archival Advancement Award, during a banquet ceremony held at the Historic Downtown Presbyterian Church here in Nashville (That's me pictured with STA President Steve Cox, Special Collections Librarian for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Lupton Library, Special Collections).

Named for the late John H. Thweatt who served as a professional archivist over many years at the Tennessee State Library and Archives, this award is given each year to "individuals, groups, and organizations that have made significant contributions to the advancement of archives and archival issues within Tennessee." The STA selected me for my work "to advance the archival profession in Tennessee and the Southeast" through my blog, the Posterity Project. I was quite surprised when I learned of my nomination, and both humbled and honored to be among two other deserving recipients of this award, Mary Helms and Suzette Raney, both from the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Bicentennial Library. Other award recipients last night included Sarah C. Shippy Copeland (UTK) and Natalie Goodwin (MTSU) who received the Society of Tennessee Archivists Student Scholarship Awards.

Much of what I do here on the Posterity Project is aimed at promoting what others are doing to help preserve, protect, and encourage use of Tennessee's public records. The work archivists, historians, special collections librarians, and yes, even history buffs, do here in Tennessee is important. In my view, this award is a recognition of the work these fine folks are doing. I'm just glad that my blog has become a virtual megaphone for those efforts. To you and to the Society of Tennessee Archivists, I say, "Thank you."